It was only four days before Christmas. The spirit of the season hadn't yet
caught up with me, although cars packed the parking lot of our local
discount store. Inside the store, it was worse.
Shopping carts and last minute shoppers jammed the aisles. Why did I come
today? I wondered. My feet ached almost as much as my head. My list
contained names of several people who claimed they wanted nothing, but I
knew their feelings would be hurt if I didn't buy them anything.

Buying for someone who had everything and deploring the high cost of items,
I considered gift buying anything but fun. Hurriedly, I filled my shopping
cart with last minute items and proceeded to the long checkout lines. I
picked the shortest but it still looked as if it would be at least a 20
minute wait.
In front of me were two small children - a boy of about 5 and a younger
girl. The boy wore a ragged coat. Enormously large, tattered tennis shoes
jutted far out in front of his much too short jeans. He clutched several
crumpled dollar bills in his grimy hands. The girl's clothing resembled her
brother's. Her head was a matted mass of curly hair. Reminders of an
evening meal still showed on her small face.

She carried a beautiful pair of shiny, gold house slippers. As the
Christmas music sounded in the store's stereo system, the girl hummed along,
off-key but happily.

When we finally approached the checkout register, the girl carefully placed
the slippers on the counter. She treated them as though they were a
treasure. The clerk rang up the sale. "That will be $6.09," she said. The
boy laid his crumpled dollars atop the counter while he searched his
pockets. He finally came up with $3.12. "I guess we will have to put them
back," he bravely said.

"We'll come back some other time, maybe tomorrow." With that statement, a
soft sob broke from the little girl. "But Jesus would have loved these
shoes," she cried. "Well, we'll go home and work some more.
Don't cry. We'll come back," he said.

Quickly I handed $3.00 to the cashier. These children had waited in line
for a long time. And, after all, it was Christmas.
Suddenly, a pair of arms came around me and a small voice said, "Thank you
lady.

"What did you mean when you said Jesus would like the shoes?" I asked.

The boy answered, "Our mommy is sick and going to heaven. Daddy said she
might go before Christmas to be with Jesus." The girl spoke,
"My Sunday school teacher said the streets in heaven are shiny gold, just
like these shoes. Won't mommy be beautiful walking on those streets to
match these shoes?"

My eyes flooded as I looked at her tear-streaked face. "Yes," I answered,
"I'm sure she will." Silently I thanked God for using these children to
remind me of the true spirit of giving.

Tis the Season!! Remember that it's better to give than receive, so pass it
on!!